Hunters have long engaged in the practice of depositing game-attracting granular feeds, such as small piles of dried corn kernels, at selected locations of hunting grounds for the purpose of increasing the likelihood of finding game. When making such deposits, particularly when making many deposits of granular feeds at widely-spread locations in large geographical areas, the task of carrying and accurately depositing appropriate amounts of granular feeds is arduous, time-consuming and tiring.
In dealing with these problems, a variety of devices have been developed, some of which have become the subject of patents. One class of such equipment is portable backpack feeder devices which each include (a) a granular-material container having a filling opening and a gravity-flow opening and (b) a carrying strap secured to the container and configured to extend over a user's shoulder. Such apparatus have various devices for dispensing granular materials from their granular-material containers to the intended locations.
Examples of prior art devices for such wild-game-related purposes or similar purposes include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,837,076 (Welker et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,663 (Cotham) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,066,206 (Cotham), as well as a product known as “The Action Back Feeder/Seeder” currently being sold by Gander Mountain, which appears to be based on a Cotham disclosure.
Certain of such prior art devices, however, have various shortcomings and/or problems that make them less than fully satisfactory for their intended purposes. For example, some of such devices have mechanical dispensing means with various interacting mechanical parts which can be problematic and provide only limited flow control, particularly when it comes to quantity and speed of dispensing. Also, operation of such prior art dispensing apparatus may not be particularly quiet, but instead cause noises which are not desirable in wild-game-related situations. Likewise, if lubrication of dispensing parts and constructions is required, related scent may be undesirable with respect to deposited granular feed materials.
Other disadvantages of certain prior art devices relate to form of the apparatus, including particularly the container portions themselves. More specifically, such devices, which by their nature are committed to the particular purpose, namely, granular-material dispensing, tend to be of fixed shape and rather bulky—and not readily available for other carrying-related uses. Such apparatus of the prior art tends to be fairly complex in structure and, therefore, somewhat costly to manufacture.
In short, there is a need for improved portable backpack feeder apparatus, and it is to this need that the present invention is addressed.